Ben Affleck Gives Touching Speech At People’s Choice Awards

Published on January 8, 2015.

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Ben Affleck is an inspirational humanitarian — and a touching public speaker.

Accepting the 2015 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Humanitarian last night, the 42 year-old writer and director got a little emotional as he gave his acceptance speech.

First, Amy Adams gave Ben a glowing introduction: “The same qualities that make my friend Ben Affleck a phenomenal actor, director and writer are also what make him an extraordinary humanitarian,” she told an adoring crowd. “He puts his heart and soul into everything he does.”

“This is incredibly humbling,” Ben said. “To be honest, it’s something I have a hard time accepting.”

“I’ve been called a lot of things in my life,” he continued. “…but I’m not sure that ‘humanitarian,’ until recently, has been one of them.”

Check out the video to see Ben’s full speech!

Ben was given the award as a result of his work with the Eastern Congo Initiative, which he founded in 2010.

According to the organization’s website, the ECI works works with local communities in eastern Congo to raise investments from private and public funding, build safe and sustainable communities, raise public awareness about the region through media and advocacy activities and drive policy change that increases United States government engagement in Congo.